Here By My Side
by Dracavia
Summary: Times change and so do people, and sometimes it's the one you least expect that understands you the best. An HP/DM songficlet to "Weapon" by Matthew Good Band


**Here By My Side    **by Dracavia

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:**  Times change and so do people, and sometimes it's the one you least expect that understands you the best.

**Note:** This is Slash (a male-male relationship), this is your one and only warning, if you don't like it don't read it.

**Pairing:** DM/HP

**Disclaimer:** The characters from Harry Potter belong to the great J. K. Rowling.  I just play with them once in a while.  
                   The song "Weapon" is performed by Matthew Good Band, I hold no rites to the lyrics used in this fic, I admit it, so please don't sue me.

**Spoilers:** Since it's a ficlet, not many.

**Feedback:** Yes please! ;-)  Constructive criticism is, as always, greatly appreciated.  This is anything along the lines of "this line was OOC" or "You contradicted yourself here" or anything of a similar manner.  I am constantly trying to improve my writing and reviews of this nature are just as welcome as any other kind words :)

**A/N:** I heard this song for the first time and immediately the idea for this ficlet came to me, so here it is, my first try at a song fic.

~*~*~*~

Harry pulled his cloak tighter about him, guarding against the cool night air as he walked down towards the lake.  His thoughts strayed to what had become a typical topic for him lately, the baffling prince of Slytherin, Draco Malfoy.  
  
For the first six years of school they'd been bitter rivals, but unlike those years, the first three months of this, their final year, Draco'd been taciturn and rarely argued except when provoked.  In fact he seemed to often avoid Harry and his friends, rather than seeking them out to torment.  
  
The change in him had surprised Harry, their was no obvious reason for the abrupt difference in attitude.  Draco had simply come back from summer break different, what had happened to cause this change one could only guess.  The greatest surprise had come when the rivals had been paired together in potions for three weeks on a project.  The two had gotten along surprisingly well, earning the highest grade in their class, in fact Draco had been almost… nice to Harry.

_Here by my side, an angel  
Here by my side, the devil_

Harry continued his musings as he reached the lake shore and sat down in the grass.  Yes, despite all probability the pair had gotten along well.  When the project was over Harry had hoped they could continue their partnership in studying for potions, he'd discovered he truly enjoyed spending time with the other boy when they weren't slinging insults.

_Never turn your back on me  
Never turn your back on me, again_

Harry's request had been met with a scathing rejection, almost as though the previous three weeks hadn't occurred.  
  
And yet Harry was sure that for a moment he'd seen a desire to accept in the silver eyes as they met his own, until the sneer was pulled into place and the hurting words had been spit at him.  The denunciation of the time they'd spent together in those weeks cut deeply.  The realisation of why he had felt so hurt and mourned the loss of their time together was what had in fact started the nightly walks to the lake.

_Here by my side, it's heaven  
Here by my side, you are destruction  
Here by my side, a new colour to paint the world_

The time with Draco had become a light in Harry's week.  Sure he still had Ron and Hermione, but Harry often felt out of place with the love-struck young couple, who time and again became so enraptured with each other they forgot about Harry's presence.  More and more he found himself alone, studying in the library, worrying over the latest reports on Voldemort's movements, taking long nighttime strolls through the castle to clear his hassled mind.  
  
Draco had made no demands upon him beyond what was fair for their project.  They'd even held frequent conversations about other things besides potions as they worked.  Discussing quidditch teams and tactics was a frequent way to break the monotony of their studying.  
  
Unlike with the rest of the world, when he was with Draco, Harry felt freer, less burdened.  Even with those closest to him, Ron and Hermione, Sirius, Dumbledore and Lupin, Harry constantly felt weighted down, he knew they were all counting on him to someway swing the balance when the final battle eventually came, that he was expected to save the world from Voldemort.  With Draco he was just Harry, never The-Boy-Who-Lived.  
  
Somewhere in all the time they'd spent together recently, Harry thought they'd made a connection… but maybe he'd been wrong.

_Never turn your back on it  
Never turn your back on it again,  
Here by my side, it's heaven_

But there was a part of him that refused to give up, that fleeting glimpse in the silver eyes was enough for him to hope.  There had to be something holding Draco back, because surely their time together couldn't have been so blissful for one and not the other.  
  
Harry was determined to find a way to get through to the stubborn Slytherin, he wasn't sure how he could go on if he didn't.  In a world that seemed to be crushing him he wanted, he _needed_, that acceptance Draco seemed to provide.  
  
And so there he sat, as he had for the past few nights, contemplating what to do, in a place where he was unlikely to run into anyone else.  He needed a plan, surely there had to be a way to make Draco understand, without risking pushing him further away.

_Careful, be careful  
Careful, be careful_

Each night Harry snuck through the castle in his invisibility cloak until he reached the outside world where he was certain the dark night shadows would conceal his presence from unwanted eyes.  
  
What Harry didn't realise was their was one pair of eyes that wistfully watch his trek each night, following his path from the castle to the water, and wishing to go sit there beside him.  And tonight, tonight they finally would.

_This is where the world drops off   
Where the world drops off   
Careful, be careful_

The sound of soft footsteps behind him broke Harry's reverie.  Those steps were so familiar, and yet he couldn't dare hope they belonged to the one he wished.  The silent figure hesitated behind him for a moment, then, his decision made, sat down beside the raven haired boy.  
  
Through the corner of his eye Harry saw the pale moonlight glinting off fair hair, and his breath caught in his throat.  Could he dare to hope?

_You breathe in and you breathe out  
For it ain't so weird,   
How it makes you a weapon_

Without turning his head Harry spoke, voice soft and questioning, "What are you doing here Malfoy?  I thought you said every moment spent with me was a wasted one."  
  
Silver eyes trained upon him, though no words were spoken for some time.  
  
"Things change…" a bitter laugh, "Yes things never cease to change."  
  
Dark green depths met silver, questioning without words.  
  
"I suppose you want to know why I've been acting so differently this year, Potter."  
  
A silent nod was all that answered the statement.  
  
"A person can spend a lifetime espousing beliefs that they think are true, but until you've confronted the source of those beliefs all it is, is words……… I met Him this summer, it was something I'd looked forward to all my life, I thought it would be an honor.  I was wrong.  I felt unclean simply by being in his presence, the darkness surrounded him and everyone near him… I don't want to live my life in shadows, Potter."  
  
"Then don't."  
  
Silver searched green, looking for an answer, "But is it really so simple?"  
  
Harry's hand slipped silently to hold the pale one beside his own.  "Why can't it be?"  
  
Draco's gaze focused upon the fingers entangled with his, "We can't do this, it isn't safe.  That's why I turned you away."

_And you give in  
and you give out  
For it ain't so weird   
How it makes you a weapon_

"It isn't safe for who?  You?  Me?" the last was said contemptuously.  
  
Still not meeting the intense emerald gaze, "They'd use me to get to you, that's why we can't be friends, let alone… I won't allow them to use me ever again, especially against you."  
  
Gentle fingers rose to the pale face, tracing each line reverently before settling below Draco's chin, forcing his eyes to meet Harry's piercing look.  "I don't need you to protect me from Him, I can take care of myself on that front just fine."  
  
Draco's heart wrenched at the pleading in the gaze fixed on his own, "Then what is it you want?"  
  
"Something you gave me and took away, I want it back."  
  
"Don't be cryptic, Harry," the name rolling naturally off his lips, as though it was how he'd always addressed the other.  
  
"For three weeks you gave me acceptance, the kind I couldn't find anywhere else.  Something I've been missing for so long.  Do you dare take it away from me again?"

_Never turn your back on it  
Never turn your back on it again_

"There are so many things that could go wrong, it's not safe."  
  
"If I wanted safe I'd lock myself in my dorm and never leave it again.  I'm not asking for safe."  
  
"I… I want to give you what you've asked for, but I don't know if I can."

_Careful, be careful_

"Please, Draco."  
  
"I…"  Eyelids descended, shuttering away silver eyes filled with indecision, inside struggling with what to do.  Soft lips ghosted across his own.

_Here by my side, it's heaven_

"Please, Draco.  I won't ask again."  
  
Golden lashes flutter up, allowing gazes to lock once again.  "Once we set foot down this path there's no going back, you know that right?"  
  
"I do."  
  
Warm mouths met once again, each exploring hungrily.

_Here by my side, it's heaven_

Long moments later the pair stood from the cold ground, arms wrapped tightly around each other, peaceful sighs reaching the air.  
  
"It won't be easy, He and my father aren't the only ones that will be against this."  
  
"Nothing worth having is ever easy, and this is worth it."

_Here by my side, it's heaven_

~finis~


End file.
